In the agricultural industry, plants and plant precursors (e.g., seeds) are often sprayed with an agricultural fluid at the time of planting in order to enhance germination and early development. For example, when planting certain crops, it is often desirable to spray fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and/or various other agricultural fluids directly over and/or adjacent to seed placements. To simplify this process, various spraying systems have been developed that are designed to spray a fluid onto seeds as they are planted or otherwise distributed on and/or within the ground.
However, such conventional spraying systems are typically configured to spray a continuous band of fluid across the length of the row in which the seeds are being planted. Accordingly, a significant amount of fluid is sprayed in the areas located between the seeds, resulting in excessive waste and increased material costs. These issues have become particularly relevant given the recent trend of narrowing the spacing between crop rows. For example, in the corn growing industry, narrow row spacings (e.g., 20 inches or less) have replaced traditional row spacings (e.g., 30 inches or more) in an attempt to provide higher seed populations and a quicker canopy for weed control. However, to implement such narrow row spacings, the seed spacing along each row must be increased, thereby widening the gap between each planted seed. As a result, the waste and material costs associated with the use of conventional spraying systems is even further increased.
To avoid the problems associated with continuous band spraying systems, improved spraying systems have been developed that provide for seed-specific placement of agricultural fluids. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,370,589 and 8,074,585 (Wilkerson et al.), both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes, disclose a system that utilizes a sensor to detect seeds passing through a seed tube. Upon the detection of a seed, the sensor transmits information to a controller configured to control the operation of a fluid dispenser such that the fluid dispenser dispenses fluid onto the seed at a predetermined time after the seed is detected by the sensor. However, such individual seed timing is very complex and data intensive, thereby requiring a controller with a significant amount of processor speed.
Accordingly, a system and method for providing seed-specific placement of agricultural fluids that does not rely on individual seed timing would be welcomed in the art.